The swift actions of firefighters and a shop owner prevented a blaze from destroying thousands of pounds worth of scooters.

Danny Millard was working on a bike in a workshop attached to the back of Kendall and Pitt Scooters, in Barrack Street, Colchester, when the machine caught light at about 11.40am yesterday.

He tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, but the blaze took hold and spread to the rest of the workshop "within seconds".

Mr Millard, who owns the shop, shut the fire door between the workshop and showroom and evacuated the building.

The fire burnt a hole in the corrugated iron roof, and smoke could be seen pouring out of it.

A crew of firefighters from Colchester were on the scene within minutes, and they managed to stop the blaze from spreading.

A second appliance was sent from Manningtree and another from Colchester to provide additional support.

Mr Millard said he was just in shock at the sequence of events.

The blaze destroyed six bikes which had been in the workshop at the time.

Mr Millard said that some of them - including a dragster you cannot buy any more - were "irreplaceable".

  • More in today's Gazette